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And I finished Batman: Arkham Asylum today... interesting game. Was fun. I've been waiting to play it until the stupid DRM went away and now that it has, I've been enjoying it quite a bit! Not going to do the challenges or anything, because I don't care... but one less game for me to have in the backlog! Yay!

The story is just drivel-drivel-drivel IMO, there's this guy who keeps babbling in the background and then more guys and some gals babbling, then more of the same guy, most of them look and sound ridiculous to me, I can't really muster up enough interest to listen to whatever crap they're talking about, then again much of my goodwill was likely wasted on the mind-numbingly boring 10+ minutes long playable-cutscene intro.

Guess that makes me susceptible of being called a mainstream/Nolan batman fan, except I'm not really even a batman fan, I just happen to like some of the films that have the batman in them.

I logged some 20 hours of AA and still haven't finished it (you know me) because I played it as a 3D Mark of the Ninja / FEZ / Trine hybrid (the Trine, sorry, Scarecrow parts felt the weakest to me), my iterative/completionist approach doesn't work well with it since you can't get all the collectibles unless you've already unlocked all the toys, at the same time I didn't loathe backtracking as much as I did with, say, The Witcher, because the levels are so beautiful and atmospheric that exploring them is a pleasure (that is also very Trine-y) and also it felt like a treasure hunt, the macguffin itself is not the point (and of course you can't make me care one bit about the backstory of some inanely uninteresting sidekick of a totally ridiculous supervillain, or some slow speaking Arkham guy, it's just noise in the background), the hunt itself is the point (FEZ understands this perfectly)

As for the dance/fight mechanic, well it looks good on-screen but even the much simpler execution mechanic of MotN felt more pleasurable, which prompts the thought that AA is a collection of systems that could be games on their own, but since they aren't, they aren't well developed enough to be interesting, ending up to be ...filler. Competently delivered filler, but still failing to hit the spot, gelling together just enough and mainly because of the package that holds them in place.

I should probably finish the main story (cross one off the backlog and all that), but that leads my mind to AC. There's probably more of that good stuff that I liked, and a whole lot more of that uninteresting fluff. Well, at least now, I'd walk in with more awareness and maybe be able to get more (and more eclectical) enjoyment out of it.

Well I basically played through the entirety of Banner Saga today, I didn't find the combat to be a slog at all, in fact I loved every minute of the game from the artful presentation, to the music, tough decisions and the combat. It very interesting to see how the decisions you make affect you down the line, with betrayals, desertion, death and redemption all playing a part and all feeling as though they were a result of my decision making.

My only slight issue with the game was the resource management, I found myself at times paying for a few fairly hard to call decisions that left my clan starving and meaning I didn't have enough resources to level up my heroes (plus a few that I'd invested in ended up dieing/leaving).

It's very likely I'll play it again at some point and see what other decisions I can take and see whether I can keep a few people alive a little longer.

The story is just drivel-drivel-drivel IMO, there's this guy who keeps babbling in the background and then more guys and some gals babbling, then more of the same guy, most of them look and sound ridiculous to me, I can't really muster up enough interest to listen to whatever crap they're talking about, then again much of my goodwill was likely wasted on the mind-numbingly boring 10+ minutes long playable-cutscene intro.

Well... I like that kind of story... and Joker is one of my favorite villains, even though I don't particularly like the Batman idea in general. That said, the intro was really bad... but I love Joker's voice.

My only slight issue with the game was the resource management, I found myself at times paying for a few fairly hard to call decisions that left my clan starving and meaning I didn't have enough resources to level up my heroes (plus a few that I'd invested in ended up dieing/leaving).

Sounds like something that would make me enjoy the game more. I appreciate it when my decisions have real consequences, for better or worse.

I played a couple of hours of Remember Me, which I finally manage to get 75% off during the xmas steam flash sale. The art direction is excellent (I think Aleksi Briclot was creative director or something if I read it correctly during the opening credits, and I like his artwork quite a lot) and the world is interesting, if very corridor like. The fighting is a bit uninspired and for the life of me I don't get why it has to interrupt you every couple of minutes to tell you how to assign this move and that combo and all that malarkey. I think it will be interesting for the ten or so hours it will take to finish, but there is definitely potential in this game which was sadly left untapped.

And more Unepic, half way through the castle/dungeon now I think. This game is fun!

Continuing with the DMC. Now more than a few chapters in (I think 5 or 6? I unlocked the fists and am attacking the TV tower) this is DEFINITELY an easy game. I've had to use a few vital stars but I haven't actually died yet.

But the game itself is gorgeous. I am usually not one to splooge over graphics or visuals, but holy crap is this game gorgeous. Really vibrant colors and a really trippy atmosphere.

Steam: Gundato
PSN: Gundato
If you want me on either service, I suggest PMing me here first to let me know who you are.

I dived into Hexcells and reached level 5-2 where I seemingly painted myself into a corner. There were three blank hexes left that contained one blue hex and there were no indications as to which of the three was the blue hex, so I had to guess. I'd post a screenshot but apparently Dropbox's new screenshot functionality doesn't capture fullscreen applications, only the windows beneath it.

Broken Age is excellent. It surpasses every other Doublefine game I've played. The art is gorgeous. The writing is really, really funny in parts and deftly touches on themes of adolescence. The puzzles are challenging but not frustrating (seasoned Adventure fans might disagree with me here), and it ends in a pretty good place. I just finished Vella's ark. I wish I had done both concurrently, to avoid potential spoilers.

The drag interface isn't the best, nor is the lack of a highlight all interactive parts, but I really do think this game has lived up to the hype. It will probably restore a lot of faith in kickstarter to a lot of people who are iffy right now, especially since it was only $15.

Um. Apologies if this is no help but are you using heavy shot like you ought to? Just pressing right trigger or whatever the equivalent is on KB&M and not bothering to aim (aiming fires your regular round shot)? It's just I missed out on that for the longest time and it's absolutely vital to making the game as easy as possible, along with getting your mortars up as high as you can and softening enemies up from long distance first. Don't assume you have to board every ship if you're grinding for upgrades, either, unless you really need the health. If you can get the hang of the combat at all you should be able to chew through a ton of schooners and brigs in an hour's play or even half an hour, and then you should either have your metal or be able to sell off your rum and sugar for a fair amount.

On top of that Kenway's Fleet can seem tedious but it's another really easy way to pull in a hefty chunk of cash once you've got a couple of frigates to send out.

It did rather help. I also seemed to be missing a couple of minor upgrades (just things like swivel shot damage) that turned the game around. I can still get shredded by frigates, but now it's more if I goof rather than just every time. Now the only thing about the game that's bothering me to any degree is the sheer endlessness of the 'follow and eavesdrop' missions. I used to not absolutely loathe them, but they go on forever, there's too many of them, and the sheer quantity of guards can make finding The Path Through a bit trial and error. I mean there was one where I couldn't leave my hidey spot because there was just an entire patrol staring at it until the targets wandered out of range - upon a reload, they were simply at another part of their patrol and it was easy. That sort of shit really shouldn't happen. Still, that sounds like I'm more down on it than I actually am. It's no AC2 or Brotherhood, but it is something else and I'm enjoying it plenty.

I started my 17th or 18th playthrough of Borderlands 2 during Awesome Games Done Quick's speedrun, this time it's UVHM with Maya who is astonishingly good while playing solo. The only problem is it's just a bit disheartening being 18 levels away from the cap, knowing you'll only get about halfway there by completing UVHM, which will take about 10 hours or so. But I'm still having fun so whatever.

I usually prefer the ability to manually save but Shadow Warrior’s (2013) checkpoints are placed perfectly. There’s also a lot of Easter eggs, and money to collect for the obsessive. It might be worth picking the skill that gets you more cash early because those weapon upgrades are expensive! My favourite weapon is the pistol because its quick-fire fanning ability is absolutely devastating. The sword is fun too, but the most practical weapon may be the crossbow which is great for long range and bosses after being upgraded to increase power by holding the trigger.

KR0 (again). The sheer delight of the art direction cannot be understated, especially where the frame rotates to reveal more expanse in places.

Dark souls (again).

Bought the Banner saga, but have yet to put any time into it, but based on the little I played it looked pretty interesting, however the lack of voice for the dialogue was a little surprising given the rest of the production values.

Finished Lara Croft atGoL yesterday. I quite liked it! The puzzles tended to be either rather obvious or run-away-difficult, but generally interesting at least. The story was pretty much non-existant ("OMG baddy! Kill him!") and the VA was sub-par, but that is not why I play Tomb Raider (well, the most recent one, to some extent). Combat was surprisingly good! I was skeptical towards the concept of sort-of-isometric tomb raiding with kind-of-ARPG-lite-ish mechanics, but it does the trick well. And it is neither too long nor too short IMO. Overall an enjoyable experience!

Now to the actual reason for this post: It made me want to replay the older games (Legend, Anniversary and Underworld). I thought I'd check for any mods whose idea of making the world prettier doesn't include making Lara naked (she'll freeze to death in those mountains for God's sake!), but alas, they are not to be found. So I turn to you for advice. I'm looking for phat graffix. I'll start with Legend.

Went back to World of Tanks after taking a break for about half a year. Lots of changes, especially to artillery. New maps and changes to old ones, so I have no idea where to go a lot of the time and I keep meeting new vehicles I don't know the weak spots of.
Got a VK 36.01 H which has what must be one of the most terrible stock guns in the game and it'll take ages before I can upgrade, so I'm impressively useless in most games with it.
Also got a Marder 38T to see if it was anything like the Marder II was before they nerfed it into a puddle of uselessness and it seems pretty okay. Higher tier, though, so you die if someone sneezes in your direction.

Played a bit more of Grid 2 and hey, I like arcade-y racers which don't go the full Burnout, and it's a very pretty game with a lot to do, so I'm enjoying it - but dear God do I detest the $(£!ing muscle cars sometimes. Only the second god damned vehicle challenge in the game and I'm turning the air blue, telling myself I'm useless, pathetic, I'll never be good enough, coming in at 2.10.006 or whatever over and over and over and over again. Give up after almost breaking my controller. Go back to regular races. Blitz through five or six in succession netting first place pretty much every time. Seriously, the muscle cars are just horrible and anyone who enjoys driving like this is a bad person who should feel bad there I said it.

Also now I want to punch the guy who voices your mechanic or whoever the hell he's supposed to be. Though I did laugh when I got to Indianapolis for the first time and he was all "Take some time to learn the track before you go full throttle" and even with my limited experience of racers set in real locations I was still able to reply "No, I don't think that'll be necessary - let's see, turn here, turn here, drift here, accelerate here..." :D

Powering through L.A. Noire. Very underrated (by gamers). Looks great on PC, considering its a console port. The writing and plot movements are of a quality rarely found in games. And the gameplay is actually fun too, as it becomes increasingly difficult to ace the cases as you progress through the desks. I remember being excited for this game back in 2011 but then ignoring it due to popular opinion. That was a mistake I won't make again.

Powering through L.A. Noire. Very underrated (by gamers). Looks great on PC, considering its a console port. The writing and plot movements are of a quality rarely found in games. And the gameplay is actually fun too, as it becomes increasingly difficult to ace the cases as you progress through the desks. I remember being excited for this game back in 2011 but then ignoring it due to popular opinion. That was a mistake I won't make again.

I'm tempted to buy this every time it goes on sale but the thought of a detective with a triple digit kill count in an otherwise grounded noir story always turns me off. Just how much of the game is shooting?

I'm tempted to buy this every time it goes on sale but the thought of a detective with a triple digit kill count in an otherwise grounded noir story always turns me off. Just how much of the game is shooting?

While I would not personally recommend LA Noire, if memory serves there's not that much shooting in it. A lot more than most detectives on the actual LAPD at that time would probably have seen, sure, but it's no GTA. The emphasis is very much on driving around the city and the crime scenes.